The FCC should reallocate full-time equivalents associated with the USF so broadcasters no longer fund them with their regulatory fees, said NAB in calls with the Office of Managing Director Friday and Monday, said an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 22-223. “Broadcasters should not be forced to pay more than $6.5 million in additional fees this year to pay for costs associated with the USF FTEs,” the filing said. If the FCC doesn’t reclassify the FTEs, it should reclassify the FTEs assigned to the Media Bureau that the agency has said are pursuing broadband policy, NAB said. “At a minimum, if 63% of Media Bureau FTEs are working on broadband issues, these FTEs cannot be working on issues pertaining to broadcasters and therefore broadcasters should be responsible for a much smaller portion of the Media Bureau’s overall fee allocation.”

The FCC “must enforce the law by collecting and publishing equal employment opportunity data by broadcasters and cable operators,” in a rulemaking within the next six months, said joint supplementary comments posted Wednesday in docket 98-204 from diversity and public interest groups including the National Urban League, the Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council and the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry. The collection of the data was teed up by a Further NPRM voted by the agency in July 2021 (see 2107260059). “To avoid any hint of the constitutional questions” raised by broadcast commenters on the FNPRM, the agency should rule that statistical EEO reports alone can’t be used to initiate an inquiry into a licensee’s EEO compliance,” the groups said. The agency needs to act soon so OMB can approve the data collection within one year, allowing data collection by the end of 2023 and results by mid-2024. The groups want the data to be collected in a public digital portal that can also be used to show results by company and on regional and state by state bases. Many other federal agencies collect similar data from companies, and the FCC collection could stimulate research and create more industry transparency, the groups said. The FCC should also move to adopt a series of diversity proposals long requested by MMTC, the groups said. Those proposals include creating a civil rights section of the Enforcement Bureau and more extensive EEO enforcement and requiring certifications that job postings at FCC licensees preceded hiring decisions. The agency “has fallen far behind standard industry practices and is depriving itself and the public of the most basic and least regulatory tools” to ensure equity and diversity in the communications workforce, the groups said.

Though Ericsson doesn't participate in ATSC 3.0 standards-setting activities, it worries about the “chilling effect” an FCC effort to regulate reasonable and nondiscriminatory (RAND) 3.0 patent licensing would have on “other important areas of innovation” before the commission, including 5G, commented the company in docket 16-142 in the FCC’s NPRM on 3.0 (see 2207060019). Promulgating FCC rules that regulate royalties for 3.0-essential patents, including agency attempts to define what constitutes RAND licensing terms, “would create unintended consequences and harm future communications innovation,” plus it would “exceed the scope” of the commission’s “legal authority,” it said. “In the rare case where the FCC has intervened with patent and license negotiations, the Commission found that such action was necessary to carry out its explicit statutory directive, but even then did not directly regulate patent licensing,” said Ericsson.

Qualcomm wants the FCC to “introduce the option” for broadcasters to use “5G Broadcast,” as an "alternative broadcast transmission standard” to ATSC 3.0 to beam over-the-air TV content to smartphones, because five years into 3.0's voluntary use, “broadcasters still lack the capability to reach on-the-go viewers via their mobile devices,” said the Snapdragon supplier in comments posted in docket 16-142. Comments were due Monday in the FCC’s NPRM on ATSC 3.0 deployment, including progress in broadcast and consumer adoption of the technology (see 2208090040). The agency’s June 22 rulemaking notice didn’t ask for public input on the progress to deploy 3.0 transmissions to mobile devices (see 2207060019), which Qualcomm correctly asserted don't exist. Qualcomm recommends the FCC “seek comment on implementation of the 5G Broadcast standard in this proceeding,” it said. “If allowed, this standard would provide mobile viewers with immersive broadcast content and critical public safety messages on their mobile devices when conventional broadcast alerting systems or cellular infrastructure are unavailable during a power outage,” it said. 5G Broadcast "would not replace ATSC 3.0 for fixed reception of television broadcast signals as the former technology targets mobility use case scenarios," said Qualcomm. 5G Broadcast "would complement the ATSC 3.0 services broadcasters are offering, reaching viewers wherever they are, including when they are out and about," it said. ATSC 3.0 “is not supported in mobile devices today” because a 3.0 modem “must be included in the mobile device along with additional hardware and software,” it said. 5G Broadcast, in contrast, “can be supported by mobile devices without any additional hardware,” it said. ATSC President Madeleine Noland said Tuesday she had no immediate comment "beyond that ATSC is reading through all of the submissions and may have an opinion to share after digesting what’s been written." Qualcomm was among several companies to oppose a commission mandate on 3.0 reception in smartphones in 2017, just before the FCC authorized 3.0's voluntary deployment for broadcasters; the commission never put such a mandate proposal on the table (see 1709200016). NPRM replies are due Sept. 6.

Tegna and Standard haven’t addressed the organizational standing of Common Cause and the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians sectors, said an ex parte filing from the unions in docket 22-162, documenting a call with the FCC Media Bureau Monday. FCC and industry officials told us the call, and a meeting last week, were at the FCC’s request. In the call, Andrew Schwarzman, who represents the unions, again argued the CWA sectors and public interest groups have standing to oppose the Standard/Tegna deal and that the transaction isn’t in the public interest. Members of the groups would face harms from the deal as “concerned citizens, journalists and pay-TV subscribers,” the filing said. “It is not even necessary for these members to watch TEGNA stations for them to have standing.” Standard “has a proven track record of promoting diversity and inclusion through its investments in broadcast news, and we fully support efforts that will better serve minority communities in media,” said a National Association of Hispanic Publications letter supporting the deal. The FCC seeks to encourage minority and female media ownership and diverse viewpoints, said the NAHP. “The merger of Standard General and Tegna would, in our view, achieve a number of these stated goals."

Allowing FM broadcasters to originate content from booster stations will benefit minority-owned stations, minority advertisers and minority audiences, media executives told FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and Media Bureau Chief Holly Sauer, per a docket 20-401 ex parte post Monday. They said Roberts Radio's WRBJ-FM Brandon, Mississippi, in geo-targeting tests held in Jackson, Mississippi, had improved coverage and Nielsen ratings, which enabled it to draw in new advertisers. The WRBJ testing also shows the booster tech can be designed to minimize interference between primary and geo-targeted booster signals while creating "miniscule" transition areas in low-populated or unpopulated areas of a broadcaster's footprint, the execs said. They said there's zero risk of cross-channel interference. Meeting with Rosenworcel were National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters CEO James Winston, National Newspaper Publishers Association CEO Benjamin Chavis, Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council CEO Robert Branson, Roberts Radio CEO Steve Roberts, JAM Media Solutions CEO Jonathan Mason and Kizart Media Partners Managing Director Sherman Kizart.

Broadcast political ad revenue from the 2022 midterms is expected to equal the record haul from the 2020 presidential race, said executives from E.W. Scripps and Gray Television on the companies' Q2 earnings calls Friday. 2020 election spending was pumped up by the presidential race, the self-funded campaigns of Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, and the protracted U.S. Senate race run-off in Georgia. “It would have to be one banner year for '22 to overcome all those meaningful sources of political revenues that are completely absent this cycle,” conceded Gray Television COO Bob Smith, saying national fundraising trends have convinced him it's going to happen. “This midterm election will match the presidential cycle,” said Brian Lawlor, E.W. Scripps president-local media. Echoing other broadcasters, both companies said they expect the record political ad dollars to soften the blow of a possible economic downturn. “It should be clear that political revenue defies economic trends,” said E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson. Gray Co-CEO Pat LaPlatney said Gray will also be able to weather any “macroeconomic headwinds” because of its scale. IHeart CEO Robert Pittman echoed this view, adding iHeart has diverse advertisers that insulate it from advertising drops. Symson said E.W. Scripps’ strengthened local advertising division, retransmission revenue and emphasis on over-the-air TV will aid it in a slowdown.

Low-power TV broadcasters, MVPDs and FM stations must submit their remaining invoices for broadcast incentive auction reimbursement by Sept. 6, said a reminder public notice from the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force and Media Bureau Thursday. “The Fund Administrator will initiate close out for any entity that has failed to initiate the process by the invoice filing deadline assigned to that entity,” said the PN. “Any unused allocations made to that entity’s account will be returned to the Fund and made available for allocation to other program participants.”

The FCC has “often been overly lax” in assessing arguments by Standard/Tegna that certain documents aren’t germane to the merger proceeding, said the Communications Workers of America's NewsGuild and National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians sectors in a Tuesday meeting with Media Bureau Chief Holly Saurer and an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, according to an ex parte filing in docket 22-162. The FCC “must determine” whether some documents on the relationship among Standard, Tegna and Apollo Global Management referenced in the Applicants’ Comprehensive Exhibit “even exist,” the filing said. The FCC should grant a pending motion from May to require more information from the parties to the deal, the filing said. The agency should also overturn a ruling limiting organizational standing from the administration of former FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the filing said. The groups said this proceeding is different from past deals where the FCC hasn’t treated the threat of increased retransmission consent fees as a public interest harm, the filing said. “Increased prices are a paradigmatic form of harm to consumer welfare.” Standard Media and the FCC didn’t immediately comment.

The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecommunications Services Sector is reviewing Standard Media’s foreign-ownership request for the transaction to buy Tegna, said a DOJ letter posted in docket 22-166 Wednesday (see 2208020040). “The Commission will be notified when the Chair has determined that responses to the Committee’s initial request for information are complete and the 120-day initial review period can begin,” the letter said.